


When We Do Bad Things To Those We Love

by foreverglorious



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Blood, F/M, Kahlan Smoak-Original Character, Oliver vs Ray, Pre-3x09, Rouge Arrow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-01 21:32:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2788466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreverglorious/pseuds/foreverglorious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Under the influence of a drug that makes people susceptible to suggestion, the Arrow does the unimaginable and hurts the woman he loves most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Second attempt. Hope you guys like!

-Felicity-

 

The party was in full swing. Businessmen and women from all over Starling had come to see the rebirth of Queen Consolidated or now Palmer Technologies. Ray looked handsome, as usual, as he talked to some mean looking women who only cracked a smile once every blue moon. He glanced over at Felicity who was sipping her nearly empty glass of champagne and rolled his eyes, shaking his head sympathetically, signaling that he wouldn't be able to get away for a while. Felicity made a mental note not to trip; her silver gown had the tendency to get caught in her heels, as she walked to the bar to get another drink. The room was filled with QC employees, everyone was in a good mood, especially Laurel who Felicity noticed was whispering something to her new beau: Ted Grant _._

The only person missing was Oliver _,_

_Strange, I’m sure I saw him a few minutes ago._

Ever since she started dating Ray things had been...awkward between them. She was tired of waiting around, she was tired of feeling like she was in Limbo so she had taken a leap an jumped into the land of the living. Oliver avoided talking about Ray or anything Palmer related, and she didn't mention him or the company. 

Felicity was snapped out of her thought when her phone started buzzing. Oliver was calling, something that she found weird since they had just been talking a few minutes ago. She scanned the room for him as she picked up the call.

“Oliver?”

No response, she assumed that the noise of the party was too loud so she left through the glass doors and into the courtyard. She could still see the party through the glass walls of the Rossi Hotel Ball Room.

“Oliver, are you there?”  She asked, rubbing her right shoulder trying to warm up.

No response.

“Oliver,” she repeated.

Slight movement behind her made her turn her head slightly. She silently thanked Dig for insisting on training her on the basics; how to get out of someone’s grip, how to cripple an assailant, etcetera.

In the corner of her eye she saw Oliver in his full Arrow gear. A sense of alarm ran through her body.

It wasn't until she had turned to face him that she noticed his bow was raised, aimed right at her.

“Oliver, what’s wrong? What are you doing?” She asked, her voice shaking with fear.

A part of her felt stupid, Oliver would never shoot her, they were partners, friends, and a lot more but she just couldn't put it in words. But she was terrified; _if he would never shoot you why is he aiming his bow at you?_

“Let. Her. Go,” he growled.

Felicity took a step back; his voice was harsh, murderous even. She had no idea what he was talking about, who _she_ was.

“Oliver, put the bow down, you’re scaring me,”

It literally took her breath away. Not the pain, the fact that the arrow probably punctured her right lung or the fact that it had gone through her body and was sticking out her back. The fact that he had actually just shot her took her breath away. She looked down at the arrow, the blood _pouring_ out of her. Blood was in he mouth, and it slowly collected until it was dribbling out onto the ground. The pain slowly started to fade away, like a boat retreating in the horizon. She looked up at Oliver; he was looking at her in disbelief, unsure of what was happening. The last she saw of him before she fell on her side was him turning and walking away, almost zombie like. She fell to her knees, her whole body was shaking, and when she couldn't take the weight of staying up right her body fell o the side, barely making a thud. 

She heard someone, Ray most likely, calling her name in the background.

_He shot me. He shot me. He shot me._

_Why?_

 

-Ray-

 

Ray was half paying attention to the two matronly women making snide comments about everyone, occasionally smiling.

He watched as Felicity walked outside to answer her phone. He had gotten into the habit of watching her, making sure she was safe ever since he found out that Oliver Queen was the Arrow, that she worked for him and that her life was constantly in danger.

He looked back at the women; Julia and Claire, smiling at a comment one of them had made, a comment he hadn't heard. When he looked up, she was on her knees, an arrow in her chest, sticking out her back. Before he could even think he was bolting outside.

“Felicity!” he screamed, panic rising through his body. He pushed past the glass doors, ignoring the confused stares he was getting and knelt beside her, he looked around for the person who had done this.

Nothing.

He ran to her side, Laurel close behind him.

“Felicity,” he said again. She was still conscious, but she seemed disoriented. She was bleeding way to fast. A pool, or ocean, as it seemed like, surrounded her tiny body. Her eye were open, wide with panic. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Her body was shaking, she couldn't stay still.

“Laurel, call 911,” he ordered. She nodded and tore her terror filled eyes form the bleeding woman and dialed the emergency number.

He threw off his jacket, and put pressure on both the entrance and exit wounds. e knew it wasn't enough, but he had to do something. He knew very little about emergency care and the proper procedures. For the first time in Ray Palmer's life; he didn't know what he was supposed to do. And he hated it.

He didn't know what to think or feel. His mind ran possible theories in his head, and most of them had an unacceptable outcome. She would bleed out right here and die if the ambulance didn't arrive soon.

The party goers started to come outside, probably curious as to what was going on, Laurel screamed for everyone to go back inside.

Laurel put her phone down and helped Ray with the pressure.

“Who could've done this?” She asked, her voice shaky.

“Isn't it obvious,” Ray spat, finally allowing himself to agree with the only obvious conclusion.

“No, he would never do this, especially not to her,”

Ray knew it was true, he knew that Oliver was in love with Felicity, everybody did. He knew that Oliver would be the last person on earth to try and kill Felicity.

_So why did he?_

 

-Felicity-

 

_Don’t panic, stay calm. You’re probably in shock._

Felicity was grateful to whoever or whatever for having photographic memory and for her curiosity when it came to medicine.

_You’re lung has probably collapsed, a hemothorax??? God it hurts._

All her surroundings were a blur; Ray had been by her side, putting pressure on the wound. _Another plus; he’s good under pressure._

She could hear Laurel on the phone with 911, she sounded upset, and it was weirdly comforting. The two had become close over the past few months. It was refreshing, having someone; a girl, to talk to about her nightly activities. Felicity did have other girl friends; Kahlan, her best friend/cousin who was unsurprisingly also a doctor just like her father, Felicity’s uncle. But she couldn't tell Kahlan about work, or talk to her about the whole Oliver and Ray situation truthfully. So she would talk to Laurel, who was really good at listening, and giving advice. She looked up at the woman, talking frantically on the phone.

_It’s getting harder to stay awake, to breathe._

_Why did he shoot me?_

She searched her mind for a reasonable explanation, _maybe he was brainwashed or it was an Oliver clone. Or maybe an Arrow imposer. Nope. No idea._

_He would never hurt me. Would he?_

She closed her eyes, _just for a second,_ but they never opened.

 

-Oliver-

 

She looked beautiful. Her silver dress glistened in the light. It reminded him of the gold dress she wore when they had set a trap for the Dogger.

She was talking to Laurel, the two women laughing about something. He loved her laugh, the way it sounded, the way her blue eyes would light up.

_God Oliver, you could not be anymore pathetic._

He tore his eyes from her and looked over at Ray Palmer. He was chatting with a man Oliver didn’t recognize, then again he had no idea who some of these people were. Oliver had tried his best to hate Ray Palmer, to hate him for buying his company and for taking Felicity from him, but he couldn’t.

They were a lot alike. They’re both witty and funny, both crazy smart. They made the perfect couple. 

He hated seeing her blush when he whispered something to her. He hated seeing her in the foundry all dressed up for a date with him. But what he hated above all was the fact that he had let her go. But he didn't want to hold her back from happiness, to keep her to himself and watch her grow to hate and resent him. He was well aware that when you loved someone you want them to be happy, even if its with someone else.

Every time he saw her, he had the urge to tell her how he felt,  _You should be with me,_  but he couldn't. Every time he would open his mouth to say it and the memory of their first date would hit him. The sight of her on the table, bleeding, unconscious terrified him in a way that he had never felt before.

He suddenly felt like his head was going to explode, he put down his drink, and went outside for some air. The second he was out of the party he let out a sigh and walked around the courtyard, trying to remove Felicity from his mind.

_When did this happen, when did she become all I ever think about. How did this happen?_

He was snapped out of his train of thought when a scream made him whip around. Felicity was in front of him, Slade behind her in his prison uniform, holding his blade to her throat.

_No!_

He should have been confused as to how he was already in his Arrow gear, aiming his bow at Slade’s head all in a matter of seconds, but he was too worried about Felicity to give it any thought.

“I told you kid, I always keep my promises,”

“Let. Her. Go,”

She looked scared, tired , and hurt. Her hair was messy, blood all over her dress. He scaled her body for any wounds looking for the source o the blood but was unlucky.  .

Slade cracked a smile, and before he could move Oliver released the arrow. It went straight through him and he fell to the ground.

Oliver instinctively went to Felicity but before he could reach her he felt a jolt.

He blinked and when he opened his eyes he was in a hotel room, laying on the bed, he looked around. It was still dark out. He reached into his pocket to check the time; 2:23am. He also noticed that he had a missed call.

Make that 32 missed calls. Most of them were from Dig and Roy, a few from Ray and Laurel and one from Captain Lance.

_Felicity._

He bolted up in confusion, for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that she was in danger.

_What the hell happened last night? Where the hell am I?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, late update....but 'tis the season of holidays  
> HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

-Felicity-

She knows what happened. She knows that  _he_ did this to her. But she still dreams about him. She dreams about how things would have turned out if he had allowed himself to be happy, if he hadn't pushed her away. How disgustingly mushy and happy they would be. Rationally; she knew that she should hate him, she knew that he had done a horrible, horrible thing to her, but her heart wouldn't let her get angry, or hateful, because she _knew_ him. She knew that he loved her, she knew he would _never_ hurt her. Every inch of her believed that there was an explanation for everything, that he didn't know what he was doing. He was mumbling, shouting to let  her go. He was hallucinating most likely, he must have thought someone was in danger.

She remembered, she pulled the memory from her mind and pressed play. She paid attention to every movement, every small detail that she hadn't noticed in that moment.

His movements were erratic; he seemed off, like he was panicked, confused maybe.

His breaths were uneven.

His eyes, he looked so determined, so resolute and intent on saving whoever _her_ was.

 

-Oliver-

He hated the way they looked at him. Captain Lance, Dig, Roy, Laurel, and Ray. The second he walked into the waiting area of the hospital they dropped their conversation and each and every one of their faces fell. They explained what had happened to her. Ray told him about how he saw her fall to her knees, how he ran to her, and that he hadn't seen who had shot her. He was covered in blood, _her_ blood.

He refused to let the swirl of emotions that were fighting to explode out from within him to break to the surface. He needed to be calm, cool. Not a mess of anger, worry and misery.

He knew that they had suspicions on who it was. Judging by the way Ray looked at him, Oliver knew that he thought the Arrow was responsible.

"It wasn't the Arrow," Oliver finally said, glancing cautiously at Captain Lance.

"How can you be so sure?" Ray asked, clearly holding himself back.

"Because he would _never_ hurt her. He loves her," Laurel defended.

Captain Lance looked around, confused, "Wait, he what?"

"He would never hurt Felicity, he's the last person on the earth who would," Roy added.

"And how do you know this?" Captain Lance asked.

Silence. He looked over at Laurel, awaiting an explanation from his daughter, and when none came he sighed.

"Right," he said, shaking his head, "if you're all so sure it wasn't him the who was it?

"A copycat maybe?" Dig finally said.

"Most likely, but the evidence against The Arrow is damning. They were _his_ arrows," Captain Lance said, looking back at his phone.

"Excuse me," a voice interrupted, they all turned their attention to a tall, blonde woman in dark blue scrubs.

"Kahlan," Ray sighed, the woman smiled and pulled him into a hug.

"She's gonna be okay," she said as she pulled away. She turned her attention to the rest standing in the waiting room.

"This is Dr. Kahlan Smoak," Ray introduced, "Felicity's cousin,"

"She's okay," she said, "she's stable you can see in a few minutes if you want to,"

"Yes," Oliver and Ray said in unison.

"Okay," she said, clearly noticing the rivalry between the two men, "She won't be awake for another hour or so, but when she does, she'll be in pain. A lot of pain,"

"I though she was out of danger," Roy said.

"She had a major hemothorax; blood collected in her chest cavity causing her lung to collapse, and to fix that we had to do a thoracotamy which entails cutting her skin, muscle _and_ bone. Even with the pain killers she's gonna be in pain. Not to mention the other surgery that were performed to correct her other injuries,"

"How long will the pain last? When will she be discharged?" Laurel asked, worry falling on her face.

"A while," she said shaking her head, "And discharge...Not for another few weeks, maybe a month. In order for her to heal she needs to rest and let the injuries heal. She's looking at at least a month's recovery," Kahlan sighed, "Not all of you can go in, just two, three maximum,"

"Captain Lance, can I speak with you for a moment?" She continued, he nodded and the two walked off.

 

-Oliver-

 

She looked small, fragile and pale. Her usually glowing skin was a shade of white and grey that, considering her love of bright colours, looked unnatural on her. Seeing her like that for the first time made him ask himself the question he had been dreading: _Did I do this to her?_

He found it hard to believe, she was the woman he loved, he would never do this to her. _But what I did?_

He had no memory of the previous night, how he ended up in the hotel room. That time gap where he didn't remember anything was not comforting.

 

-Kahlan-

She sat down in her chair. After standing in an OR, for almost four hours, getting off her feet was a welcome relaxant.

"Captain, do you know the amount of force it would take for an arrow to go through someone? Not complete through obviously but even partially?"

"I'm guessing a whole lot," he uttered.

"Multiply that by a thousand. He must really hate her.... On it's path, it caused a massive hemothorax, fractured two ribs, ruptured a major artery causing severe internal bleeding in the abdomen, and minor damage to her spinal chord. The loss of blood would have killed her if the ambulance hadn't arrived when it did. If the arrow had been aimed a few centimetres higher it would have killed her instantly, a few to the right it the arrow would have shattered her spine and killed her instantly. Just to keep her alive we needed to perform  _two_ _major_ _surgeries_ at once. And all if this was cause by one single arrow. An arrow fired by a mad man,"

"And we will find whoever is behind this," Captain Lance answered, shock written on his face as he realized the extent of Felicity's condition.

"I hope you do, Felicity and her mother are the only family I have left. I'm not about to loose them too,"

 

-Felicity-

 

Felicity had always been a clumsy child and prone to accidents. She was unlucky.

When she was twelve she fell of a horse and dislocated her shoulder.

When she was nine she broke her middle finger while building a computer.

When she was four she fell down a couple of stairs and sprained her wrist.

When she was fourteen she was in a car accident with her aunt Dana, who walked away without a scratch, but Felicity dislocated her shoulder.

And again when was seventeen she was in a car accident. She had been coming home from a party with friends when a drunk driver missed a red light. She hadn't been driving, it was Kahlan. In the back seat were two other friends: Robbie and Claire. No on died thank god, but she ended up with a broken arm and a few bruised ribs. The broken arm was bearable, just keep it still and the pain wasn't so bad. But with her bruised ribs, every time she inhaled or exhaled a shot of pain surged up her body.

The only reason that she had been able to get through all those injuries was repeating what her dad had told her when she sprained her wrist; 'The thing about pain is that it only lasts for a little while,'

All those injuries combined hurt less than the pain she was experiencing as she woke up. It hurt when she breathed, it hurt when she moved, it even hurt when she blinked. She waited and waited for the pain to subside but when it didn't she knew that it was gonna be a while.

When her eyes finally focused she saw him.

He stood at the foot of her bed, his eyes lit up when he realized that she was awake. Her mouth curved into a smile, she couldn't help it, he looked like someone had kicked his puppy and he looked cute whether he wanted to or not. She felt eyes on her and looked over to see Ray sitting beside her. His brown eyes were focused on her, worry filled and tired.

"You both look like carp," she said softly, doing her best not to take too many deep breaths.

Ray chuckled, squeezing her hand tighter, "Look who's talking,"

"How do you feel?"

"Like I was shot in the chest with an arrow," she joked.

Ray's grip tightened and Oliver tensed, he crossed his hands and clenched his jaw.

"Speaking of, did you see who did this to you? Did you see your attacker?" Ray asked,  his voice laced with both concern and anger.

She did the math. Added one plus one. They knew, or suspected that it was Oliver: The Arrow who shot her. And they were right but she needed to talk to him, she needed to understand what happened.

"No," she lied, "it all happened so fast. I didn't see him...or her," she said, wincing at the sharp pain coming from her shoulder.

"Are you sure?" Ray asked, running a hand through her blonde hair.

"Yeah," she whispered, "Where's Dig? I wanna talk to him and Oliver,"

Ray sighed, "Sure," he said hesitantly. He kissed her softly on her cheek and went outside.

Oliver stood in silence, staring at the floor. She looked at him intently, doing her best to ignore the pain. 

 __"Did I do this to you?" He finally asked, a pained expression on his face.

"Yeah," she answered softly, "and the fact that you don't seem to remember makes me more sure that there's more to the story,"

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

-Oliver-

 

It was times like these that Oliver hated himself the most; the woman he loved was battered and bruised, in excruciating pain because of him and what made it worse was that she wasn't angry at him. At least she didn't seem to be. Her face was unreadable, as she glared at him with her blue eyes that were burning a whole in his skull.

"What happened?" She asked, her strong front dissipating an her face creasing in pain.

"That's what we were going to ask you," Dig said, siting by her side and giving her a faint smile.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and then finally she opened them and said, "You were hallucinating. You said something about  _him_ letting go of  _her_ ," she whispered, her face coiled in pain.

Dig gave Oliver a look that made him cringe; the kind of look a protective brother or father gave his little sisters boyfriend, a boyfriend they didn't like. I t was very similar to the one Lance ave him when he would come to apologize to Laurel for whatever stupid thing he had done.

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, trying to rationalize the information he was receiving.

"At the party I got a call from you... and when I wen outside to answer you were there, pointing an arrow at me, yelling at me to let someone go.... You shot me, and then you walked away like... you were in... a... daze," she explained slowly, taking time to breath.

A part of him knew, was already aware that he had been the one, but until know he had been denying it. Pushing the thoughts down deep into a box he never planned on opening. He immediately felt shame, anger and disappointment. 

"I don't remember doing....  _this_ ," he revealed, shaking his head slightly.

"That's because it wasn't you," she responded.

"Don't!" He yelled, surprising even himself, he took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down and then continued, "Don't protect me. You should be  _pissed_ Felicity, you should hate me. I almost  _killed_  you,"

"It wasn't your fault Oliver," Dig chimed in, rising to his feet.

"Then who the hell is it?" 

"That's what we're going to find out," Felicity wheezed.

 

 

-Seth-

 

When Seth was twelve years old his mother killed herself. A week after his father filled for divorce and requested full custody of him and his little brother she slit her wrists in the kitchen with a knife at approximately midnight and bled to death. He found her the next morning, and he wasn't sure why but he stared at her dead boy for a good ten minutes before he realized that he should probably call the police. The years after he barely thought about her; to him she was a weak and pathetic woman who needed to be in a relationship to feel self worth. To an extent he was glad she ended her life; it made his much simpler. With her out of the way he was free to live with his father. Seth loved his father; he was an intellectual, a neurologist. Seth and his father spent a lot of time together in his office at the hospital. He enjoyed picking his brain, pun intended, and learning.

It was a shame he had to end the man. Seth was seventeen when he stabbed him with a hunting knife in the back, and in the chest; multiple times. Till this day he doesn't know why he did it. He had loved the man so much as a child and admired his intellect, but as he grew older, as he matured he soon realized his dad was like the rest; common and stupid.

Seth was superior you see. He was a butterfly in a world full of caterpillars, the only wizard in a world of smuggles. It sounds glamorous when you first think of it. To be smart, to be better than everyone; but in truth it's boring for him. To him, simple conversation seemed like what it would b like for someone to explain string theory to a chimp. He had to constantly dumb it down for everyone, a task that was both aggravating and tiresome.

He stood in silence for a while; staring at his wall filled with chemical equations and research clippings.   

_Why didn't it work? How did he resist?_

Annoyed by his ignorance; Seth opened his laptop and did a more extensive search on Felicity Smoak than previously.

_I already know she works for the Arrow. But what else?_

He sat quietly for about two hours, reading the papers she had published on Cyber Security, reading her personnel files from both QC and Palmer Technologies and hacked into her medical records.

_Born April 23 rd, MIT Graduate, blood type AB-, lives on Brighton Ave, peanut allergy, fluent in French and German, born at MasGen Hospital, comes from a family of doctors… _

Then he looked at her social media pages, hoping to find something to dislike about her, because from all his research she was almost as smart as him, something he never thought would be possible; but alas he found nothing. She had a few 'selfies' on her profile, but he found himself chuckling at them. They weren't like most; desperate cries for attention, but funny faces. 

_Loves to swim, favorite colour is green, enjoys comedies and everythin on BBC._

He pressed a button and the printer lit up, releasing pictures of her, Felicity Smoak, the perfect woman.

_Maybe the Arrow's reluctance o kill her was a blessing in disguise._

 

 

-Felicity-

 

Felicity has always hated horror movies. She was born with a hyperactive imagination and a photographic memory, so they stayed with her, popping up in her head at the worst times. When she was thirteen she watched Jeepers Creepers for the first time and couldn't get the son out of her head for  _months._ So when she flicked over to a TV station showing Paranormal Activity, she instantly switched the channel and landed on BBC America, and spent the next hour watching the latest Orphan Black.

"You don't believe in clones do you?" A voice boomed, startling her.

She looked at the doorway and found the source of the voice. A nurse.

"Why not?" She replied, smiling warmly at the nurse.

"It's crazy,"

"Not really. Science is advancing further and further everyday. Haven't you heard of animal cloning?"

"Yes. I have," he smiled warmly, "I'm Seth,"

"Felicity,"

 

 

-Ray-

 

She was out cold. He stayed with her every night the past week, filling her in on the recent activity at Palmer Technologies (he insisted she rest, but she scowled at him and refused to talk to him until he obliged) and he kept her company.

It was hard. She was in pain a lot of the time, so much that she found it hard to talk, and it was unnerving not to hear her awkward babbles for so long. He hated watching her cringe in pain when she talked, or when she simply took a breath. She soldiered through the first week though, the pain getting less intense as the days passed, and by the second week her smile was wider, her skin less pale. She found it easier to move but took it easy.

He was glad she was rarely alone. Laurel was there a lot. She chatted with Felicity for hours, and brought her Chinese takeout (she wasn't allowed to at it but she said that the smell calmed her down). Kahlan checked up her constantly and Diggle, Roy and Oliver were with her almost more than he was. They were her friends, and they worried.

But it was something about the way Oliver was behaving; he was quieter than usual, avoided eye contact with her. Almost like he was guilty.

Ray Palmer was something of a genius, he had an insanely high IQ, and he was good at reading people and situations. Oliver and Felicity had something, he knew that, but there was definatley more to it. And he intended to fin out.

 

 

-Seth-

 

She was magnificent. Perfect. Everything he had imagined and more.

Felicity Smoak was his soul mate.

Over the past few weeks he had been the best of his life. Getting to know her was a whirlwind. She was spunky and quirky; but not to the extent, to which it was annoying, she was beautiful; even in her weak and recovering state he could see that she was a beautiful specimen, and she was almost as smart as him. He could talk to her freely, and he had, without having to dumb them down. She was his match in almost every way.

Hacking into the hospital's mainframe had been a breeze; he had made himself a key card and even put himself in the system as a precaution. She had a slew of friends who were at one time or the other with her, but only from 10 am to 6 pm; visiting hours, and then she was free. He could have her all to himself. She didn't sleep until late: 12 am or later, which was understandable due to her night job as the Arrow's tech support, so he talked to her for hours about science, life, everything he could think of.

He found himself wanting her,  _needing_  her.

When he wasn't with her he was making modifications to his drug; he adjusted the ingredients and decided used more of the plant that caused the phenomenon of rendering the subject completely suggestible, which meant he had to make a trip to Tim.

Tim Henley was a scumbag. He was in the business of rare and expensive antiquities and smuggling. The plant didn't grow anywhere near the states and thus had to be smuggled in. Seth had tried growing some in his own garden but, maybe it was the soil or the water, the samples from abroad were always more potent. So, he accepted the fact and kept buying from Tim. Once he found out the reason for the potency he planned on killing Tim.

He was close to perfecting it and making sure that not even Ra's al Ghul himself could resist the effects of his drug.


	4. Chapter 4

Recovery was a bitch. Felicity's body hurt constantly, breathing, moving even eating. So she was glad when, after nine weeks, the pain was less intense and Oliver finally let her come back to both day and night work. She walked a lot slower, and didn't wear heels anymore; a fact that pissed her off, especially since without them she was basically a dwarf. She still felt uneasy though. Oliver's blood tests showed that he had been dosed with a drug; known for coercion, that was rare and very potent. They had done everything to try and track down the person who dosed him, but all the leads ran cold.

Oliver was particularly angry, going a little bit harder on the streets. She guessed that he was frustrated that she didn't know who had dosed him, who had turned him against her. So she had to deal with a extra brooding Oliver Queen, but soon recovered from it. And Ray was extra attentive. And she didn't mind one bit; who wouldn't like extra attention from their super hot and super smart boyfriend/boss. And then there was Seth, he was nice, funny and sweet, he had been becoming a good friend until he tried to kiss her. She explained that she was in a relationship, and he had taken it well, and they agreed to just be friends. And that was the end of it.Things were beginning to brighten, but she couldn't shake the feeling.

Something was off, she felt uneasy about everything. She had a gut feeling that something terrible was gong to happen.

X X X X X X

 

Seth had his plan ready and prepared. He was well hidden in her bedroom closet, waiting for her to get home. Everything was ready. His plan was ready. He couldn't help but give himself a proud smile. After weeks of preparation,  of meticulous planning he was excited to see how she would react. How she would handle what was about to happen to her.

_She needs to understand; I'm the only one who understands her. She needs to learn her lesson._

He was snapped out of her train of thought by the sound of the door opening. She was on the phone, but he couldn't quite make out what she was saying until she walked into her bedroom.

"I'm fine," she said, "I'm home. Safe and sound. No need to worry,"

_It must be her arrogant prick of a boyfriend. Or the friend that's hopelessly in love with her._

"Ray, shut up," she laughed, flicking on the lights and throwing off her shoes, "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight,"

_Come on, hurry up._

He watched her as she hung up and throw the phone on her bed, she quickly pulled off her dress and walked into the bathroom. When he was sure she was in the shower he crept out of the closet and tip toed into her living room. He  carefully pulled out every light bulb in the living room and placed them in the her kitchen cupboard next to her knives.

Once he was done, he did the same in her bedroom, leaving only one light still working and placing the bulbs on her nightstand.

He placed the CD into her stereo, and wrote down his message.

 _Perfect_ , he thought, wiping away the blood from his hands.

X X X X X X

 

Felicity fell back on her bed, her hair still soaking wet from her shower. She made a mental note to call the electrician to fix the rest of her lights, _they were working only ten minutes ago._ She lifted her blue vest and ran her fingers up and down her scar located between her ribs. It was healing well, the incision was still a bit numb, and she had to be careful when she showered, but it was healing well. She let the memory of that night fill her mind. The look on Oliver's face, the sound of the arrow flying through the air, and the feeling of the blood on her hands. She opened her eyes, and lifted herself off the bed slowly, and walked over to her nightstand to get her pills when she saw them.

_Bulbs._ _What the hell?  
_

She picked one up and examined it in confusion. In the corner of her eye she saw movement and spun around.

Standing before her was a man, all dressed in black, holding a knife.

 

X X X X X X

 

Her scream rippled through the air leaving it stale and stuffy. She threw the bulb at him and he dogged it easily. Seth stifled his laughter, _ah how fear can make even the smartest people do such stupid things,_ and when she tried to run he wrapped his hand around her, keeping her still. He threw a black hood over her head and dragged her to the living room. She kicked and flailed, trying her best to get free of his grip but was unsuccessful.

_I guess all those years of football weren't so useless._

He threw her on the floor, and tied her hands and legs together tightly, leaving no wiggle room. More screams erupted from her as he pulled off the hood and she realized that she was in pitch black darkness. He pulled on his night vision goggles and proceeded with his plan. _  
_

He pressed play on her remote.

Sound of screaming and laughter filled the room, making him smile.

"Who are you!" She yelled.

He grabbed her by the feet and pulled.

"No! No! Let me go! Stop!"

He pulled her around the couch and picked her up. The sounds from the speakers changed to laughter from a clown.

 _Afraid of clowns,_ he almost did a spit take when he found that out from hacking into her e-mails and her social media accounts. As a child he had loved them; they had brought happiness and laughter into his life with their silly jokes and balloon animals. He threw her on a chair and attached the ropes to the chairs feet and arms.

He then picked up the bottle of gasoline he had hidden behind her door and poured it all over her head and the rest of her body. The smell was strong and he cringed to think how Felicity felt; it was probably seeping into her mouth, her eyes.

She screamed. It was filled with desperation, fear an pain, "No!"

_Also afraid of fire._

The excitement that surged through his body was unexplainable. It raised his heartbeat, it made his fingers tingle and it made him drunk with glee. She needed this, she needed to be shown the error in her ways, and being her teacher was one of the most exhilaration thing he ever felt.

"No, please," she pleaded.

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a match box. He lit it, and his high went to another level when he saw her eyes widen with fear, screams; pleading for her life, begging fro him to stop, she squirmed and cried. 

_God she's beautiful._

Even with all the anger he harbored for her after her rejection, and her current state of fear, Seth found himself admiring her beauty. Her eyes, usually wide and blue, were red form the gasoline entering her eyes, were still his favorite shade of blue. He wanted to reach for her and kiss her, he wanted to let her know that she was with the only man who would ever be able to make her feel alive, the only one who could bring her happiness.

"Help me! Help me!" She called out.

His euphoria was broken like a bone and annoyance was flung into his face. He blew out the match and slapped her across the face with the back of his hand, causing her to tumble to the ground, causing her to go silent and still.

"No!" He yelled.

_No, no. YOU NEED TO BE AWAKE FOR THIS._

Panicked, he reached to her and relaxed when he felt a pulse, and when she started to stir. He was so distracted that he didn't notice that the fall had allowed her to get her hand free.

 

X X X X X X

 

Her eyes were burning with such an intensity that she was sure she was blind. The pain only grew every time she blinked, not to mention the growing pain in her chest. She was sure that something had torn inside her, or ruptured. She hit the ground hard, knocking her out. The pain was almost unbearable, and her lungs didn't seem to be accepting the air she was sucking in. She remembered Kahlan's words very clearly; "No sports and heavy activity, take it easy,"

_This is the exact opposite._

She felt a loosening with the ropes, and when she pulled her left hand came free.

_Think smart. Get both hands loose first._

She pulled the ropes off and prepared herself for what she was about to do. She sucked in her breath, and pushed the man kneeling beside her away. She decided that she didn't have enough time to untie her legs and hoped up to her side table and felt the vase her mother gave her for her birthday, she threw the flowers out of the vase and threw it at him hoping it would hit him, which it did, causing him to fall back on the ground with a thump. When she didn't hear any movement she slid back down and untied her legs. She stumbled up, falling down and slipping on the gasoline soaked ground; and crashed with the door.

She couldn't catch her breath. The air seemed to be avoiding her lungs. She fumbled with the door but couldn't get it open.

_The son of a bitch locked the door._

She held on to the wall, allowing it to guide her until she reached the window, she pulled the curtains off and light trickled in, allowing her to see a bit despite the burning in her eyes. She stretched out her hands, looking for anything hard enough to break it. Her hands came in contact with her bright blue umbrella that she thought she had lost months ago.

"Felicity," the man grunted, his voice still shaking with weakness.

Fear dug it's roots deep into her and she swung at the window, breaking the glass. She threw the umbrella aside and climbed out of the window, ignoring the pain on her hands, knees and feet as she did so, and landed on the ground on her left shoulder.

"Help me! Help me!" She shouted, pulling out the shards under her feet and running to her neighbors house. The light in the streets caused her eyes pain, and she constantly had to close them, protect them from the light. She banged on her neighbor, Mrs. Fellman's, door, "Mrs. Fellman! Help me! Please!"

The door swung open. Felicity couldn't see her well, her image was too blurry and blotchy, all she knew was that she was greeted by the elderly woman dressed in her nightgown.

"Felicity," she said worriedly after seeing the younger woman with red eyes, smelling like gasoline and shards of glass sticking out of her arms and torso.

"Help me," Felicity cried, "please! Call 911,"

 

X X X X X X

 

Captain Lance shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. He looked at his watch; almost midnight. He was tired, and wanted to go to sleep, but the paperwork needed to be finished by morning.

"Captain," Lieutenant Vaughn burst in to his office, the young mans eyes wide with anxiety and panting like he had just ran a marathon.

"What is it?"

"We just received a call. Felicity Smoak was attacked in her home, she's being rushed to the hospital," he explained.

Captain Lance bolted up from his chair and out of the office.

_Tonight just got a lot longer._

 

"Give me the run through," Captain Lance ordered as he walked into the apartment.

"Well it's a mess," Detective Lopez explained, "no sign of B and E. This creep removed all the bulbs in the house, tied up the vic,"

He could smell the gasoline even from outside, "Gasoline?"

"Yeah, the creep drenched her in it right here," he said, pointing at the toppled chair. Captain Lance assessed the crime scene, loose rope, broken glass and clay, but what took the cake was the writing on the wall.

Written, in blood, 'YOU ARE MINE'

"Dear God," Lance uttered, disgust and shock rumbling deep in his body, "I'm going to go see her. And I have to inform her friends,"

 

X X X X X X

 

Oliver tried to sleep but his mind wouldn't shut off. He still thought about that night, trying to fill in the gaps. But nothing.

He felt guilty, and it intensified every time he saw her face. He hated himself even more every time she smiled at him, gave him encouraging words, yelled at him to stop apologizing, and every time she smiled at him. She was kind, too kind. Because normal people would hate him, would fear him. But she forgave him, she acted like it never even happened, and it was unnerving.

All leads, all clues were cold. He had no idea who had dosed him, and he hated it. He had always prided himself on having one hundred percent control over himself. But that all changed when he met her. She got under his skin; she had implanted herself in his life, made herself the single most person in his life, and she did it without him even noticing.  And he hurt her. He was never going to forgive himself, but he took shelter in the fact that she had forgiven him, and that she trusted him completely.

Oliver was thrust out of his train of thought by the ringing of his phone.

"Captain," Oliver greeted.

"Queen, you need to get to the hospital," the man said somberly, "Felicity's been attacked,"

He was out the door within seconds.

 

X X X X X X

 

Detective Lance walked into the hospital room. Felicity sat on the bed, a nurse stitching up her sliced arm.

"Felicity," Lance said, "how d'you feel?"

"Like crap," she replied.

Her eyes and the skin around them were red, her usually wide blue eyes were squinted, almost closed. Her bottom lip was split open, and red, and the pungent smell of gasoline infected his nostrils.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask you for a statement,"

"It's fine," she smiled.

"Okay, start from the beginning, give me every detail,"

She nodded softly and thanked the nurse before she left them alone.

"I came home from work, and took a shower. When I got out only one light was on, which was weird because they were working before I went to shower. I was about to take my meds when I saw the bulbs on my dressing table, and that's when I saw him. I tried to run, but he grabbed me and pulled a sheet over my head,"

"Did you get a good look at him?"

"No, his face was covered. He threw me on the floor and tied me up. I heard screaming and a clown,"

"A clown?"

"He knew about my phobia's,"

"Phobia?"

"I'm terrified of clowns, ever since I was a kid. And when I was twelve I was trapped in a fire, I've been afraid ever since,"

"The gasoline," he nodded, putting two and two together.

"How did you escape?"

"I was pitch black, I couldn't see anything, he threw the gasoline on me and lit a match so I started screaming for help. He got pisses and hit me. I fell and the ropes came loose, I managed to push him away and hit him with the vase the I broke the glass and crawled out. Hence the cuts and gashes,"

"Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt you?"

"No," she said, "No idea,"

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Of course she new who was trying to kill her. The past three hours had been a blur, remembering every detail of the attack, searching her mind. She ignored Oliver's worry, Ray's anger, Diggle's fear. She ignored everything, and focused on the short but rather disturbing list of people people who would want her dead.

Daphne Mara; her father's wife. The woman hated her with a passion, she was an evil troll and Felicity knew that she was just crazy enough to try and have her murdered, but the attack; it wasn't a typical assassination attempt. She knew that for sure; working with the Arrow had taught her that. 

Ed Raymond; her psycho ex boyfriend/stalker. But he was comfortably locked away in a high security mental centre, and scaring the crap out of her wasn't his style. He was more of a kidnap and kill (or at least try to kill) kind of man.

Seth.

She was more inclined to believe it was him. After her horrible stalker ordeal with Ed Raymond that left her in the ICU for almost two months she had done her research. She had taken it upon herself to take notice of the little signs, the slight markers that, if she had payed attention to, could have saved her a lot of pain, tears and money. And over the past few weeks she had been noticing them in him; at first she had ignored them, telling herself she was being paranoid but now, she couldn't deny it.  

He didn't seem to have any friends, or any other relationships. She had never seen him with friends, he had never mentioned any ex's or even mentioned anything to do with his personal life; even when she pried.

He needed things to be how he wanted them, and when he wanted them. 

He didn't like other men looking at her. She noticed him giving threatening eyes to other men who checked her out.

And he had a short temper. He once yelled at a waitress when she brought Felicity the wrong order of coffee. Felicity had been freaked out, but he explained that he had been having a tough day, and he even apologized to the waitress, so she shrugged it off.

A high IQ. Seth was smart, and it puzzled her why he was a nurse and not a...neurosurgeon or a physicist. And she never asked him why. 

He had so many of the hallmarks of a stalker.

_Why didn't you do anything about it!? The whole, not a kiss thing must have set him off._

_But he could also be just a private,short tempered guy with OCD who hasn't risen to his full potential. And a bit overly protective._

She sighed looking up at the ceiling in Ray's bedroom, unable to sleep. He had insisted that she stay with him, and she was glad for it.

"Ray," she whispered, "are you awake?"

When his eyes stayed closed she gently got out of his bed and walked down the hall and into his kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. 

Her nerves rose to the surface with anxiety and she looked around the dark and empty kitchen, feeling as though she was being watched. She could still barely see clearly she flicked the lights on and examined the room closely for a few minutes.

She sighed in relief when she cleared the area. Before she could think she dialed a number an waited for the opposite line to answer.

"Hey," Oliver said, "everything okay?"

"No," she replied truthfully, "this is all really creepy. I never thought this would happen again,"

"Again?"

Felicity inhaled sharply, "When I was 16, an ex got a bit...obsessed with me," she cleared her throat, the memory of his hands around her neck invading her mind, "he put me in the hospital. A broken jaw, severe internal bleeding, broken leg in two places, fractured skull, and a pretty nasty six months of recovery; both physical and emotional,"

There was silence for a while.

Felicity hated this part. The pity. That's why she kept it a close guarded secret. The only people knowing about it Kahlan and her mother, she liked it that way. She didn't want people to see her as weak, or a damsel in distress.

"Where is he now?" He finally asked.

"No, no no. He's locked away," she assured, "very, very tightly,"

"You sure, ex boyfriends of yours have a way of not being where you think they are," he joked, reminding her of yet another one of her crazy ex boyfriends Cooper Seldon.

"Ha ha," she remarked, "but Eddie's not coming back. You can thank grampa Smoak for that,"

"Your grandfather?"

"Yeah, he has some pull in the medical field, being some big shot surgeon who has a bunch of medical techniques and hospital wings named after him and won like six awards has it's perks,"

"My grandfather sold watches," Oliver offered.

"Really? I though he founded QC?"

"He did, but he grew up in the Glades and started out selling shoes and then watches, and by the time he was 35 he was one of the richest men in Starling,"

"My grandpa is still cooler than yours," she laughed.

"Felicity," he called, his tone suddenly serious,"you're gonna be fine. We'll find this son of a bitch. I promise,"

"Thanks....You're always saving me,"

"And I always will," he replied.

 

X X X X X X

 

Seth wasn't just a scientist, he was a businessman. A very busy one at that. He had a whole organisation with roots in Russia, Columbia to China. He was in the pleasure business of pleasure; drugs and women. 

At the age of 18 he had worked his way up into the Lobos Crime Ring that was largely based in South America. He had quickly become one of Dante Villalobos' most trusted men, Seth after all had a knack for business and science. And when he was 27 he had killed the old man and promptly taken over as the new leader. Once he had gained control he had expanded to Gotham, and now to Starling City.

Many people had power. But few had the kind of power where people both feared and loved you. People wished for his death, and others prayed for him.

That kind of power as rare, and it was deadly. 

"I am a king," Seth announced to his number two: Will. He was loyal, and trustworthy. He was probably the only person he trusted, and he was a good friend.

"And?"

"I want a queen," he declared, standing up from behind his desk.

"Really," the other man laughed, "you want a woman?"

"Why is that so shocking?"

"You don't have relationships," he retorted, "you have flings, you gt bored and then you kill them. Besides, you spend all your time in that stupid lab doing experiments with that mind control drug, a drug that you don't even want....Imagine how useful it could be, we could get rid of Batman and the Arrow, we could destroy all our enemies. We could take over the WORLD,"

"I don't care about that,"

"Then what do you want? To sell it to the highest bidder?" Will asked, frustrated.

"The Colombians, the Irish, even the Russian Government has reached out to us. They all want it, thy want me. But I don't care. I just like to watch them fight for it," he said, sitting back down in his chair, sipping his whiskey, " ** _'Daddy loves me the best'_** " he laughed, making his voice higher to impersonate them.

"You ordinary people are so predictable," he continued, "but Felicity Smoak; she is _not_ ordinary. And she will be mine. Even if I have to burn down the fucking city,"

"This Felicity Smoak," he said, rising from his seat, "luck gal," he finished sarcastically.

"Speaking of, before she is to be crowned, I want to make sure that she's ready,"

"What do you mean?"

"Get Mike to get some cameras. Small, wireless," he ordered.

"Fine, I'll get you some guys to install them where eve-,"

"No," he interrupted, "I will do this myself. But round up some high level trouble makers, I have a job for them,"

"What are you planning?"

"The rebirth of Felicity Smoak," he grinned. 

X X X X X X 

 

Starling City Hospital had become another home for Felicity. She was there once a week for checkups; blood work and exams mainly, other times to refill her painkiller prescription. So every time she left walked out of the hospital, a wash of relief came over her.

"You look better," he complimented.

Felicity looked up at her friend. Seth was in his usual red scrubs which brought out the green in his eyes,  _stop checking him out Felicity._

"Well thank you," she laughed, "I try,"

"Guess what?" Seth asked after a moment of laughter.

"You have an extra toe?" 

"No," he laughed, "I kind of lied to you about what I do,"

"Your not a nurse?" She asked, perplexed by his statement.

"I am, but a nurse who happens to also be interested in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry," he confessed, "I got applied to Coast City University and I got in,"

Felicity's mouth fell into an 'O' shape. CCU was one of the countries leading medical universities and research institutions; one of the hardest universities to get into.

"Oh my god," she beamed, squeezing his hands in excitement, "that's amazing!"

"I know. I start in a week," 

"Congratulations!....Is it bitchy for me to be just a little bit jealous?"

"No," he chuckled, "It's an amazing, amazing opportunity,"

"I'm gonna miss you," she said, smiling sadly.

"Aw, me too," he replied, happy to hear her say that.

Happier than she knew. 

 

X X X X X X 

 

"Hey," Ray greeted Felicity with a kiss as she walked into his office, "how are your lungs,"

"Working perfectly," she smiled, "but my eyes are still kinda sensitive so no computers or TV for another two days," she sulked.

"You'll be fine," he said encouragingly, "we'll have an Orphan Black marathon when you're better,"

"Deal," she sighed, "Hey, I told you about Seth right?"

"Yeah, the male nurse. What about him?"

"He's leaving. He got into CCU for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,"

"Wow," 

"I know,"

"So doesn't that eliminate him as a suspect in your attack?"

"Yes, actually," she said, thinking about it intently, " If it was him, there's no way he'd be leaving,"

_I guess I was wrong..._

 

_**Three months later...** _

 

"Is it just me or has there been an alarmingly high rise of crime in the past few months?" Felicity asked.

"It's not just you," Oliver replied, pulling up the hood on the mannequin in his glass case.

"They're fizzling out, it's like the last burst of energy before they're gone," Laurel chimed in, setting down her batons on the table next to the computers.

Over the past three months there had been a crime boom in Starling. Drug dealers were selling drugs for nickles causing an increase in deaths and addiction, more muggings; most of them not even in the Glades, robberies, break ins and murderers. All of them well organised an seemingly unconnected. But Felicity knew there was something off, something connected them all. A common denominator, and she needed to figure it out. Felicity Smoak hated mysteries, and she needed to solve this one.

"No. I...I don't know why but it feels strange," Felicity argued, "Like a puzzle I need to figure out,"

"Okay, what d'you think it is?"

Felicity stood up from her chair to plead her case, "These crimes don't seem random. The most of muggings and the murders happened outside of the Glades, and these guys, they all have connections. If they aren't friends then they're known acquaintances with each other or something, it's like they all have this one common denominator. A connection,"

"Could be something," Diggle agreed.

"But that's not uncommon. Many of these crooks are familiar with each other," Roy said.

"Maybe," she sighed, slumping back into her chair.

_Maybe I'm over reaching._

 

X X X X X X

 

Oliver watched her fiddle with her ear lobe nervously. She was staring at her monitors intently, engrossed in her thoughts. He was supposed to be getting a workout before sparring with Roy but she was distracting him. He jumped down and reached for his towel.

"You still trying to figure out the puzzle?"

"Yeah," she answered, not even looking up, she was looking at crime scene pictures, glaring at the words on the walls written in blood. Some of the murders had been like that, writings on the wall in blood; but undecipherable, she had tried everything to figure the out, but had failed. Even though they had been apprehended she still wondered about the words; what they meant and why they were there.

Diggle guessed it was threats to other gangs, but Felicity knew there was something more to it.

 

"You just don't give up do you?" He remarked.

"Nope," she answered, suddenly paying attention, "I have a gut feeling, and it has a tendency to always be right,"

"Fine, tell me about this conspiracy theory,"

"I have a feeling about these writing, they look so familiar to me, but I just can't place them....Anyways, you guys are right, but the murders are random, but the locations aren't. Each location of murders where the writings were left are close to places of significance and powerful locations. Three near city hall, two near Starling National Bank, and another two at the Adeline Museum,"

Oliver could see that it was suspicious looking, and that Felicity was right. Something was going on.

"This is exactly why I need you," Oliver revealed, "I never would have connected those dots,"

"You're welcome," she joked, she leaned back in her chair and took off her glasses, "I'm close, I can feel it,"

"Let's hope you figure it out, it seems like something big is about to go down," Oliver agreed.

 

 

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

He loved watching her. Felicity was magnificent. She was well on the way to discovering the truth behind the recent crimes. He also loved watching her do simple things; cook, read a book, enjoy the latest episode of her favorite shows, work on her laptop. She was a beautiful creature; and he couldn't wait to have her.

"I've brought a friend," Will announced as he walked into Seth's office located in downtown Gotham.

"Peter, my friend. How are you?" Seth greeted, handing the man a glass of whiskey.

"Good boss, things are good," the man said confidently.

"Really?" Seth questioned, "Because I've heard that you went a little too far with one of the girls,"

"Oh, yeah. The stupid bitch was mouthy, I had to send a message you know," the man laughed.

Seth laughed in agreement, and gave Will his signal.

"You know, I've never liked the term 'bitch'. It's so...disrespectful,"

"What?" Peter asked, confused as to where the conversation was going.

"My mother was a very beautiful woman. She used to tell me that women are like flowers. They need to be treated with care,"

"Sounds like bullshit," the man spat.

"You're young. You think that you are invincible, let me be the one to correct you," he said calmly before jumping on him and throwing punches.

Peter cried out, and struggled, but Seth was pissed, and he was uncontrollable. He punched the man furiously, until his own knuckles were both too slippery to punch any more and bruised.

"You do not _touch_ my property. Those girl are my flowers, and it is your job to care for them, not put them in the hospital," he yelled, punching him once more.

"I'm sorry. I won't do lay a hand on any of them, ever," Peter cried, holding up his hands defensively over his head.

Seth stood up and straightened out his suit, "I know you won't," he said, and cleared the way for Will to stand him up.

"Calm down," Seth comforted, patting his shoulder, "it'll be over soon,"

Will pulled out his gun and aimed it at the back of his head.

"No, no!" He yelled, and Will fired.

Blood spattered all over his face, and Seth closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling on the blood on his skin, the way it felt as it dripped down to his lips. He pulled out his handkerchief and started to clean his face, he licked his lips slowly, savoring the taste of the blood on his tongue.

Will and Seth had an understanding.

Seth had killed three people in his entire life; and he didn't like it. He found the whole murder thing a tad bit below him. And Will loved it. He was somewhat of a sociopath; he enjoyed killing. Seth was like the trigger and Will the weapon. Seth loved to be there at the last moments; to hear the pleading, to see the look of desperation in their eyes before a bullet was placed in their skulls.

And when Seth looked at his 6'7 223 pound friend, he smiled at the pure bliss and ecstasy in his eyes.

A man who enjoyed killing and a man who enjoyed watching the deaths. A match made in heaven.

"Sofia," Seth called, and waited for the small woman to walk in, her eyes widened when she saw the body making him chuckle, "get clean up. The bastard's bleeding like a fucking faucet,"

 

X X X X X X

 

"Holy shit," Felicity cursed, catching the attention of the whole team. She was going through a flash drive Roy recovered from the perp of the week; Frank Ballard, a serial killer with a thing for red heads.

"Did she just curse?" Roy asked.

"I think so," Dig answered.

They all stood silent, watching her in shock. She had been the one who made the foundry a cursing free zone, and she wasn't the type to break her own rules.

"Holy fucking shit," she said, louder this time.

"That's three times," Roy said in shock, "who died?"

"My privacy," she slowly replied.

When the team saw what she was looking at the silence turned cold and hard.

On the flash drive were thousands of pictures of her. Many of them were of her in her office at Palmer Tech, working, talking, some picture caught her kissing Ray. Others she recognized as pictures on her laptop; from the beach when she went to Barcelona, and Lisbon with her friends freshman year of college.

"Holy fucking shit indeed," Laurel finally said.

Felicity picked up her phone and dialed a number, her thoughts too fast to understand, that she never though she would have to.

"Grant Mental Health Institution, how may I help you," a female voice asked on the other end of the line.

"My name is Felicity Smoak, I'm calling about a patient. Edward Raymond, I'm on his notification list. I'd like to know his status," she asked calmly, calmer than she though she would be if this ever happened.

"He is still on level Red," she replied.

Relief washed over her and she hung up the phone, "Thank God,"

"What was that about?" Oliver asked worriedly.

"I was just checking to make sure my old stalker is locked up, and confirm that I have a new one," she said matter-of-factly.


	7. Chapter 7

-Felicity-

 

“Mom, I’m fine,” Felicity assured, letting her head fall into her mother’s lap, “you don’t need to worry about me,”

“I’m your mother. It’s my job to worry. Maybe you should go on a vacation. We could go to visit your grandpa in Chicago with Kahlan next week? ”

“If grandpa’s involved it’s not a vacation,” Kahlan retorted, throwing a gummy bear into her mouth.

“Hey, that’s my dad you’re talking about,” Donna protested, causing Kahlan to laugh, “and we need to take this seriously. Felicity has been attacked _twice_ ,”

“Ugh….” Felicity grunted, “Can we talk about something else? Like the googly eyes you and Captain Lance give each other every time you’re in the same room?”

For the first time in Felicity’s life she witnessed Donna Smoak blush.

“No,” she laughed shyly.

“Yes,” Kahlan replied, “it’s really cute,”

“I have an idea, you’ve been on what _one_ date? I could-”

“No!” Donna announced, interrupting Felicity, “No playing matchmaker. Do I have to remind you about douche bag Derek? I can handle my own love life thank you very much,”

“Okay, to be fair he was really cute, and he seemed really nice,” Felicity protested.

“Because he wanted to sleep with me,”

“And me,” Kahlan chimed in.

Felicity laughed at that and was glad they had come over. They always had a way of making her relax, and or a moment she almost forgot about Frank Ballard, the flash drive, the pictures, and the bloody messages.

-Quentin-

"I need your help Captain Lance," the Arrow said, anger lacing his speech.

"With what?"

"This," he answered, handing him a flash drive, "there are thousands of pictures of Felicity on here. It was on Frank Ballard, I need you to question him,"

Quentin sighed, shaking his head slightly,  _She just can't catch a break._

"You think he's the guy who attacked her a few months ago," he stated, trying to solve the pieces of the puzzle.

"Maybe," he said, turning to walk away.

"Palmer, Queen, and now you? I can't decide if she's lucky or cursed,"

 

x x x x x x 

 

Captain Lance sighed as he watched Frank Ballard walk into the interrogation room. The man was a nutcase, Lance was tired, and he hoped he would be cooperative. He wanted nothing more than for all this to be over. He was worried about her; and not just because he was seeing her mother. Felicity was a good kid; kind and smart, too smart for her own good sometimes, and she had been through a lot the last few months.

The Arrow had attacked her while under the influence of some mind control drug and she had almost died, she had been attacked in her home by an unknown man who was still at large and now she had to deal with this.

"You know I can interrogate him right, there's no need for you to do it," Lt. Ramos announced as she walked into the viewing room.

"Nah, I got this," he replied, walking into the room.

"I'm guessing you're here to talk to me about blondie," Ballard huffed.

Lance took the seat opposite him and evaluated the man, short, bulky and mean looking. He gave off a creepy vibe of the serial killer subtext, not the stalker category.

"So you admit to stalking her,"

"I didn't say that," he spat, "look can you just give her a message?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone asked me to tell her something," he sighed, gesturing for his pen. Reluctantly he handed him a pen and his note pad.

He hastily scribbled something and slid it to Lance.

Lance looked at the paper; analyzing its contents, "Don't bother trying to figure it out. She's the only on who'll understand it,"

"Who asked you to give her this? What for?"

"All I know is that someone powerful is playing some game with her, something's about to go down. I wouldn't want to be her right now,"

"Can I go back to my cell now?" He asked after a long pause, visibly annoyed.

Lance gave a signal and was taken away. He stayed behind, looking at the paper over and over again.

_Your hands are wrapped around my neck, and I love you still. I stab you in the heart, and your love does not waver. What is this that we’ve become? What is this that we’ve done to each other? How shall we escape? Can we escape? Or do we love the pain too much to leave?_

"What...the hell…is this?"

 

-Felicity-

 

"Are you okay?"

Felicity looked up to see Ray, intently examining her from the opposite side of the conference table at Palmer Tech.

"What? Yeah? Why?" She mumbled hurriedly.

"You're twirling your pen in your hands. You do that when something is bugging you," he explained, standing up and walking towards her. He had the famous Palmer grin on his face; charming, sweet and warm, but sensual at the same time.

"Ooh," she exhaled, "that smile, you know what that does to me,"

"Really?" He teased, swiveling her chair around to face him, he leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her neck. Felicity pulled his face up to hers.

"Really," she answered. She was just about to kiss him when her phone rang, "Ugghh," she grunted and checked the caller ID, "It's Captain Lance. Hello?"

"Felicity, you busy?"

"Umm....kinda, why?"

"I need to talk to you," he said, "about the flash drive our mutual friend gave me,"

"Oh right," she snapped, standing up and giving Ray a kiss, "I have to go," she mouthed. He nodded and she walked past him and out the conference room.

"The coffee place on 9th, twenty minutes?"

"The one with the big coffee mug on the roof?"

"Yeah, that one,"

"See you there,"

 

X X X X X X

 

"So, what did Ballard tell you?" Felicity asked, bouncing her leg up and down with anticipation.

"He said that someone asked me to give you a message," he replied, giving her a small folded piece of paper.

"He said you were the only person who could figure it out," Lance sighed as she read the contents of the note, "and that someone powerful is playing a game with you,"

"A game?"

"Yeah," he replied, "Look, I have a feeling. I can't explain it but I just know that there is so much more to this, and it's not gonna end well. Anyways do you know what it means?"

“Yeah,” she sighed, “it’s a quote from a novel called The Black Box written by Anne Grayson,”

“What’s it about?” He asked, leaning back into his chair, curiosity trickling down his spine.

“It takes place in Victorian England. It’s about a young girl, Emily Heading who falls in love with Daniel Brenan, a man just as equally insane as she is who happens to be married to her cousin. They have a….complicated relationship to put it simply-,” she summarized.

“Romantic,” Lance interrupted sarcastically.

“Not really. Emily becomes an alcoholic and eventually drowns herself, and a few weeks later he loses his mind and hangs himself, orphaning seven month old bastard son,”

“So what does that even have to do with you or anything for that matter?”

"I don’t know. But the crimes in the city lately, they seem to all be connected somehow. And the messages on the walls, I have a feeling there's more to them than random gang markings and they’re connected to this message somehow," Felicity answered.

"I’m inclined to agree with you," he assured, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah," she responded thanking the waitress as she placed her cup of coffee in front of her, "I don't know, maybe it's just my nerves acting up. Rough couple of months,"

"You okay?"

"God, I am so sick of people asking me that," she thought aloud, "not that you asking me is irritating, it's actually nice, I just meant that between Ray and Oliver and  _our mutual friend,_  that question is just driving me crazy,"

Captain Lance smirked, "The three of them seem to be running circles around you,"

"No," she laughed awkwardly, "they're just....No, no. I'm...I'm with Ray,"

"I know how much he cares about you, but you we both he’s not the one,”

“You know, you just started dating my mom and you’re already giving me fatherly advice,”

“Hey. I can’t help it, it’s my default setting,”

 

X X X X X X

 

-Seth-

 

Seth was a patient man. He was slick, conniving and ruthless; all that he had learnt from Dante Villalobos himself. Manipulation was a gift that he had inherited from his mother; only he was better at it and was more meticulous. She was impulsive, she didn’t think long term. Seth knew Felicity’s tenth step even before she did.

“What are you thinking about baby,” she asked, her head lying gently on his chest.

Sonja was his oldest friend. They had met when he was fifteen; she was like him. Gifted. When they had first met she was addicted to cocaine, living on the streets, and stealing to survive. She had tried to steal from him, and he saw the potential in her. So he cleaned her up, helped her learn more, she was like a hungry beast and her food was knowledge. They had grown close, and she was the only woman he had ever trusted completely. She understood him in a way that not many did, and she was more like him than he liked to admit.

“Felicity,” he replied simply.

The mere mention of her name caused her to stiffen; she exhaled loudly in annoyance and bolted up, “Really? After what we just did, you’re thinking about _her_?”

“I love her,”

“No, you’re obsessed with that girl,”

“She’s a woman,” he said, annoyed, “and there isn’t a difference,” he scoffed.

“For a genius you’re such a dumbass,” she spat, hastily throwing on her black t-shirt.

“You’re mad,” he sighed, falling back into bed. He hated this part. The clinginess, the jealousy, that’s why many of the women he was with ended up dead. If she was any other woman; he would put a bullet in her skull, but Sonja wasn’t any other woman, she was his closest friend and he would never hurt her.

“I’m going home. Call me when you get tired with your little golden girl,”

“Sonja,” he commanded, making her stop in her tracks. Sonja was almost as cruel and evil as him, and he knew her like the back of his hand, “I care about you, _I love you_ , but if you do anything to **_my Felicity_** …I will _skin_ you and make you into shoes,”

The woman nodded in agreement and left him alone.

 

-Felicity -

 

Felicity loved books. They were like little universes and worlds inserted onto pages combined into a book; each unique and special, yet similar in their beauty. That was one of the man things she had in common with her father. He used to read to her every night, and she would fall asleep to the sound of his voice. After he left, she found it hard to fall asleep, night after night of insomnia so one day she decided to read to herself. She never had a sleepless night after that.

One her fourteenth birthday she received an anonymous gift. A first edition book; _Anna Karenina_ by Tolstoy and she knew it was him. She spent hours ravishing the book, obsessing over the characters, analyzing every word and relishing every scene. After that was _Tess of d’Urbervilles_ by Hardy on her fifteenth, then _Wuthering Heights_ by Emily Brontë on her sixteenth and so on.

“I hate that book,” Kahlan whined as she walked into Felicity’s bedroom, “why is it even called The Black Box?”

“It’s a metaphor. The box symbolizes the mind; the fact that its black shows their insanity and the actual black box in the book is where they would drop off their love letters to each other. Look I don’t have time to explain everything to you,” Felicity rushed, “could you just shut up and help me find the book, I have eleven first edition books and like twenty five others, not including the copies,”

“You really need to get a bigger book shelf. I’m a doctor and I don’t have as many books as you do,” Kahlan complained as she searched through the overflowing bookshelf, “so why would this guy send you a quote from this _particular_ book?”

“Maybe he _or she_ thinks of us as Emily and Daniel? Maybe they see us as soul mates?”

“Soul mates? The two of them were bat shit crazy and died _horribly_ ,”

“Yeah, but before the whole suicide they understood each other to a point that they didn’t need words. They loved each other so much that they rejected social scorn, religion, and even family,”

“Bat. Shit. Crazy,” Kahlan retorted, “Aha! Found it,”

Kahlan handed Felicity the old and nearly worn out copy of the book. Felicity sunk down onto the bed looking for the quote.

“Here it is _:_ _‘Your hands are wrapped around my neck, and I love you still. I stab you in the heart, and your love does not waver. What is this that we’ve become? What is this that we’ve done to each other? How shall we escape? Can we escape? Or do we love the pain too much to leave?’”_

_“Okay, now what?”_

_“I find the black box,”_

_“Whoa. Lis, maybe you should tell Lance about this, it’s dangerous,”_

_“Don’t worry. I know someone who can help,”_


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dudes!!  
> Sorry, but life is crazy. FINALS are bitch slapping me so fucking hard. So forgive my tardiness! Anywhooooooo we're almost done. Only like......5 or 6 chapters left till the end, and shit will get real but It's okay coz we all love happy endings.....or do we???? Ya, i'm in a wierd place today, after 3x20 my brain has is just...BLEH AND I'm super hungry.  
> Enjoy, and feel free to yell at me on the comments section for my late update, my spelling errors and this note thingy!
> 
> xx Jo.

"The Black Box?"

Oliver sunk into Felicity's couch, his mind racing. He was tired. Tired of the danger she was constantly surrounded by, they mind games and the fact that she seemed to be enjoying them.

"It's a book about Emily and Daniel, they come form different worlds, but love each other. They go through a lot to be together...but end up killing each other...in a weird way. That's not why I called you here," she rambled, "I called you here because this guy _knows_ me. Better than anyone. And he's trying to send me a message,"

"And what exactly is that message?"

Felicity sighed and slumped back into her chair, "I don't know. Yet,"

Oliver closed his eyes. And wished all his problems away. He wished that this psycho would just go away, that he would leave her alone. He hated not knowing. He hated not knowing who was behind all of this, why he was doing this and what he wanted.

"This is all just. One. Big. Mind fuck," a familiar voice rattled, Oliver's eyes snapped open and saw Kahlan walking into the living room, an empty bottle of wine in her hand and a full glass in the other, "hey Oliver. You look like crap,"

"It's nice to see you too Kahlan," he laughed.

The Smoak women were constantly making him laugh. Even at his worst, when all he wanted to do was kill someone or just die. Her family seemed like aliens, they all had a similar way of just lifting even the heaviest of moods, especially Felicity. She was on a league of her own. Kahlan walked back into the living room, sat down next to Felicity and draped her legs on her.

"Look, whoever is doing this obviously wants me to find them, so--"

"No," Oliver interrupted.

"What? I haven't even finished my sentence,"  she retorted.

"You want to find the clues and figure it out because you hate mysteries," he said flatly.

"You know me so well," she laughed.

"But I'm not letting you. At least not alone," he finished, "every step, every clue you find, you tell me about it,"

"But you wont get in my way. You'll let me do what I need," she offered, "deal?"

"Deal," he agreed, "so what now?"

"My encryption key's almost done with the bloody messages, so now we need to find the black box,"

"Where would you even find it?" Kahlan blurted out, suddenly paying attention, "Whether you like it or not you're not psychic,"

"Hey," Felicity protested, "grandma said-"

"Grandma was crazy," Kahlan laughed.

"Shut up," Felicity laughed, "but I have an idea where it is."

Both Oliver and Kahlan raised an eyebrow in curiosity, making her roll her eyes.

"The Cemetery," she smiled.

 

X X X X X X

 

"Remind me again why we're here?" Oliver asked, walking into the cemetery with Felicity.

He wore his street clothes. Felicity had insisted on it, she didn't expect there to be any problems, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

"A cemetery, at his cousin's funeral is where Daniel first told Daniel that they loved each other,"

"Romantic," Oliver retorted sarcastically, "so what are we looking for exactly?"

"A Family Crypt. Brenan," she replied, looking around, "look for the name Brenan,"

"You mean like that one?" Oliver asked, pointing a good hundred feet away at a large crypt, the letter B in bold chiseled onto the front.

Felicity all but sprinted to the crypt, a task that was harder than it looked since she was wearing four inch red bottoms. Oliver was close behind her but she was all but sure that he was slowing down for her. Once she got to the front, law and behold there was a black box.

"YES!" Felicity proclaimed in amusement, "I mean....oh, here it is," she corrected, clearing her throat hoarsely.

She knelt down and opened the box revealing a stack of what looked like letters, she went through them and they all seemed to be addressed to her, from different cities all over the world, each letter having unique handwriting.

"Everything makes even less sense than it did before," Oliver muttered angrily.

"Tell me about it," Felicity huffed.

 

X X X X X X

 

Ray was a rational man. A scientist.

He memorized the periodical table when he was 12, he figured out TV's when he was 8 and he could recite Pie to the six thousands.

He listened to his brain more than he did his heart.

He dumped Gina Ronalds when he realized that she was all looks and no brain, even though he really liked her. He went to Stanford and broke up with his high school girlfriend Lisa because it was his dream to go to Stanford and she was going to NYU.

But when it came to Felicity his heart always seemed to somehow win. Because a part of him knew she had feelings for Oliver. It was obvious, but he ignored it. And sometimes it was like the voice in his head telling him that their relationship was doomed would shut up and he felt like there was hope. But then it would come back, and pester him for days.

But this time was different. The voice was louder now, and unforgiving. He would notice the little things. The looks, the smiles, even the way her body language would change when he was around, and he couldn't seem to dull the voice in his head. He used to console himself with the fact that she was honest with him, and she was open. There were thing they would share with each other that no one else knew about. And then the phone calls started.

At first it was just Oliver being protective, and Ray knew he would be because he was in love with her. And they were friends. So he respected that. But every time she hung up the phone from one of their conversations her face was lighter, brighter. It was like Oliver was the life line she needed to survive their relationship, and he hated it.

"You love him," he said, watching her as she flopped down on the couch next to him.

"Who?"

"Oliver. You love him," he repeated calmly.

"Ray--"

"No, it's okay. I've known for a while. I just hoped that if I ignored it, it would go away," he interrupted.

Felicity sighed. And they sat in silence for a few moments.

"I'm sorry Ray," she whispered.

"Don't be. It's okay," he smiled sadly, standing up and putting on his coat, "The two of you belong together,"

And with that he turned to leave.

"Bye Felicity," he said, already out the door.

"Bye Ray," she replied.

 

X X X X X X

 

"Ray and I broke up," Felicity sighed, filling up her wine glass.

"It's about time," Laurel mumbled, throwing another gummy bear at Felicity.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't love him," Laurel continued.

"Yeah I do," she defended.

"But not the way you love Oliver. He's...special," Kahlan explained.

Felicity sighed and took another sip of her wine. She knew deep down that Kahlan and Laurel were right. She loved Ray, she knew she did; but it was totally eclipsed by Oliver. He was like the sun and he reached every corner. No matter how hard she tried to hide, he was always there; shinning bright.

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Like what?"

"Tell us about your day. About all the gross and weird injuries,"

"Nothing really to talk about," Kahlan shrugged, "oh! There was this guy who was shot eighteen times. He had so many holes in him the blood was gushing out of him,"

"Is he dead?" Laurel asked, intrigued.

"I stood in an OR for fourteen hours, and I fixed him, he was stable, alive, only for to die of an allergic reaction to general anesthesia. But it was good thing I guess,"

Felicity and Laurel gave her judging looks, and Kahlan let out a loud laugh, "With his injuries it would have taken years of slow and painful rehabilitation. Believe me, death was a much better choice,"

Felicity was about to say something when her phone rang, her land line.

"Holy shit," Kahlan jumped.

"What? It's just the phone,"

"Yeah, but it's 2015, no one uses land-line anymore unless something monumentally bad has happened. Like zombie apocalypse bad,"

"Where does she come up with this?" Laurel question, genuine confusion on her face.

"Beat's me," Felicity laughed as she answered the phone.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Felicity," a mans voice said flatly.

"Yeah, speaking?"

Silence.

"Helloooo?"

"You're doing a good job," the voice said, a hint of pride lacing his voice.

"Excuse me?"

"It's fun, but it's almost over, but it's gonna get worse before it gets better," the voice said again and the line went dead.

"Who was it?" Kahlan asked, seeing the distress on her face.

"It was him," Felicity sighed, " he was warning me,"

"Of what?" Kahlan asked.

"I have no idea,"


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, NEW CHAPTER!!!  
> Excited!!  
> Written while being forced to watch telenovelas on some channel; Telemundo by my little sister it’s called....La Impostora- the impostor , yeah i know......wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. *sigh.  
> GOD HELP ME  
> 

Seth could barely hide his smile. Things were going well for him, as usual. Felicity had found the Black Box, and soon she would figure out their meaning, Ray was out of the picture and his little message for her that he had written in blood at the murder scenes would soon be deciphered. It was like Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day all at once.

"You're smiling," Sonja announced, taking a seat at the opposite head of the table in the dining room.

"Evaluate," he replied, taking another sip of his orange juice.

"It's your happy smile,"

"Is there any other type?"

"For you, yes. You have an evil smile, a- I'm gonna kill you- smile, a seductive smile and of course your long time favorite, -I know something you don't- smile. I've only ever seen your happy smile once,"

"And when was that?"

"When your little brother graduated," she said, smiling warmly at the memory, "you were so proud of him,"

"I was, and I still am," he added, "having a brother in the FBI does have it's perks," 

"So tell me, why are you happy?"

Seth smiled again, "Because soon, Felicity will be here, with me,"

"Ah, your golden girl," Sonja remarked, "do you honestly think your plan will work?"

"It will. I know it,"

"She will destroy you Seth-"

"I don't want to hear it Sonja," he interpreted.

"She will destroy you," she said again, louder this time, "your golden girl, along with Oliver Queen and his team  will find you, and destroy you. You may like to think it, but you are not a God, you are are human, you bleed. And she will bleed. You. Dry," 

She stood up an marched out of the room, annoying Seth immensely. In that moment Seth wanted to kill her.

The two of them had had monumental fights, glass throwing, kicking and screaming, fights that made his blood boil. That was what they did, fight and make up with angry sex, Sonja was the closest thing he had ever had to a girlfriend, hell a wife. Then he met Felicity. He no longer wanted to fight and make up, he no longer wanted to have creaming matches, he wanted to have Felicity by his side, and Seth was beginning to think that instead of being his helper, his friend and confidant, she would become a problem.

"Will!" 

The large man walked into the room, his face hard and unfeeling.

"Yeah boss,"

"Have Sonja watched," he said flatly.

"She's angry, and she does stupid things when she's angry,"

"Bitches," Will mumbled as he walked out of the large dining room.

 

X X X X X X

 

Sonja was a sexy woman. She had the body that many women spent hours dieting and working out for without even trying. She was also beautiful. She was always the centre of attention, and she was always coveted by men. And she was good at playing roles. She had been the cool girl, the good girl, an the  angry bitch. She had gotten so good at it that most of the time she couldn't tell if she was pretending or just being herself.

Her true identity had been obscured by faux versions of herself, and it was getting harder and harder to fin herself. She wasn't sure of who she was, but she was sure of two things.

One: She was in love with Seth, so much that she couldn't put it into words.

Two: She had to get Felicity Smoak out of the way. As soon as possible.

"Sofia, can I speak to you for a moment?" Sonja asked the tall, nerdy girl.

"Of course Ms. Barnes," she replied, "what can I get for you?"

"Information," 

 

X X X X X X 

 

"These letters are pissing me off," Felicity huffed, leaning back into her chair in her office.

"Then stop looking at them," Dig retorted.

"I can't Dig. I obsess, I obsess  ** _hard_** ,"

"What do they even say?"

"They're just letters from random people. They don't seem to have any relation, it's like he robbed the mail man," Felicity replied, "I'm gonna solve this, even if it kills me,"

"Oookay then," Diggle laughed, "good luck with that. I have to head home, s ya tomorrow,"

"Bye, and if Lyla's making her famous lasagna I expect a piece tomorrow,"

"Sure thing, right after Roy," he joked as he walked out of her office.

Felicity sat in silence, reading each letter carefully, analyzing everything about it. The handwriting, the subject, the postal address, even the fucking paper. Nothing. Shit like this is what pissed Felicity off. She hated mysteries, so much co that she had barely gotten any work done because all she could do was think about the letters. What they mean, and why he gave them to her.

_Think. What do these mean?_

_Maybe it's a code of some sort?_

_Let’s see...._

"Holy shit," Felicity mumbled to herself, realization kicking her in the face, "Holy fucking shit,"

 


End file.
